Chapter 80: Root Laboratory

"Forty thousand Reward Points."

Looking at his son's determined gaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi was dazed for a moment.

In the end, he could only sigh helplessly.

He truly did not want to see Asuma standing in opposition to the Ninja Clans; he himself could not have successfully become Hokage back then without the help of Ninja Clans like the Ino-Shika-Cho.

Ichiraku Ramen,

Sasuke Uchiha had already pooled money with Naruto Uzumaki to buy two Trial Tokens, handing them to Haruno Sakura and Kakashi Hatake.

Without waiting for Asuma to return, he left Naruto behind to keep watch over the two members of Team 7.

After Sasuke purchased the Mission Scroll, a line of black text popped up before his eyes.

【Mission Scroll】

Mission Content: Destroy a dark underground laboratory in the northeastern part of the Death Forest.

Mission Reward: Soul Scroll Lv. 15 (Purple) *1

There is no failure penalty, and you may choose to refuse.

However, once refused, you will lose one mission opportunity, leaving four missions remaining.

"The mission reward is actually a Soul Scroll?"

A look of joy appeared on Sasuke's face.

To perform a Soul Certification on Purple Equipment, even for the relatively cheaper five-piece armor set, requires five thousand Reward Points.

A Soul Scroll can certify one piece of equipment of the same quality for free.

The very first mission of the Mission Scroll he purchased yielded a high-value item.

There were still four missions to follow.

This was a rare opportunity to fleece the Samsara Game that was hard to come by; he definitely could not abandon the mission and had to seize the chance.

Fang Yi glanced at Sasuke, who was leaving in high spirits and looking as if he had made a killing, and smiled without a word.

You might make a small profit, but I never lose.

"The Death Forest has been designated as the site for the joint Chunin exams; unauthorized personnel are forbidden from entering."

A gatekeeper wearing Chunin soft armor stopped the approaching Sasuke outside the chain-link fence.

"Understood."

Sasuke nodded and chose to take a detour from the side.

It was impossible to set up guard posts throughout the entire vast Death Forest, and even with the chain-link fence blocking the way, it was merely a formality to Sasuke.

He swung his blade.

In an inconspicuous corner, a gap was slashed into the chain-link fence.

Sasuke stepped sideways into the Death Forest; the massive tree crowns, spreading out like mushrooms, blotted out the sky and sun, casting the entire interior of the Death Forest into gloom.

With the mission guidance, Sasuke soon arrived at the mission location.

"It's not here?"

Sasuke looked left and right, failing to find the laboratory mentioned in the mission.

The surroundings were filled with dense fallen leaves and countless massive tree trunks, no different from the environment elsewhere.

Black Flame Curse.

A stream of pure black flames burned fiercely, converging into a black Talisman that hovered at his fingertips.

Sasuke knelt halfway on the ground and gently inserted his two fingers into the earth; the Black Flame spread outward from the center like flowing water.

This skill was the same one used back then when pursuing Itachi Uchiha.

【Black Flame Curse (Purple) Lv. 5】: After release, causes 5 enemy units within a 500-meter range to be captured by the Black Flame aura; deals additional damage when attacking units captured by the Black Flame Curse.

Sasuke could sense the approximate direction of the targets captured by the Black Flame Curse.

The further the distance, the blurrier the sensation.

If the Black Flame Curse is not broken, it can last for two days.

"Found it!"

Sasuke opened his eyes abruptly and looked at a massive, moss-covered, inconspicuous rock.

He drew the long sword at his waist and slashed straight down.

Boom.

Dust rose; it didn't feel like striking rock, but rather like striking chains and gears.

The shattered rock shell revealed hinges and gears inside, and a hidden elevator appeared before Sasuke's eyes.

"Strange, who would build such a place inside the Death Forest?"

Sasuke sensed something was wrong.

He had been blinded by the Soul Scroll and rushed over in a heat of the moment, but suddenly realized that this was the real world.

A laboratory appearing inside the Death Forest must definitely be related to the village.

Damn it.

Sasuke felt a secret sense of foreboding in his heart, and just as he was hesitating whether to abandon the mission,

one figure after another had already rushed out from the inside.

"Sasuke Uchiha, the Death Forest is currently in a state of lockdown; what is your intention in trespassing?"

A ninja wearing a painted mask asked in a cold tone.

"Anbu?"

Sasuke took two steps back, carefully observing the other party's appearance.

The Anbu were the Hokage's direct subordinates; could this laboratory marked in the mission be the handiwork of Hiruzen Sarutobi?

No, that's not right.

If it were directly under the Hokage, there would be no need to build the laboratory so covertly; not only is it inconvenient to operate, but the cost of building it underground is enormous.

It is completely unnecessary, unless it is to hide it from prying eyes.

Sasuke suddenly remembered what Yakushi Kabuto had once told him.

Root!

A secret unit under the jurisdiction of the high-ranking advisor Shimura Danzo; if this hypothesis holds, does this laboratory involve Danzou?

Thinking back to that inexplicable attack some time ago,

Sasuke lowered his eyelids slightly and did not answer the other party's question.

A budding sense of pressure radiated from his body.

"Sasuke Uchiha, do you intend to take action against the Anbu?"

The Anbu also sensed the change in Sasuke's aura, and their tone suddenly became serious.

【Black Flame Imprisonment (Blue Potential) Lv. 8】: Condense Black Flame into an imprisonment seal, and throw it to imprison enemies within the range.

Sasuke suddenly made his move, swinging the long sword in his hand in a sweep.

A string of bead-like black flames was flung out, landing in the surroundings and rising into an imprisonment barrier that resembled a seal.

"What is this thing?"

The Anbu wearing painted masks had never seen such a state of Weirdness.

A circle of rising Black Flame surrounded them completely.

The rolling, burning black flame barrier would pounce on them like a viper at the slightest movement.

Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique

The Anbu wearing the painted mask in the lead quickly formed hand seals, his throat bulging as he spat out a massive ball of water.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

The giant water ball collided with the Black Flame barrier and was instantly evaporated; a large amount of water vapor spread out, making vision blurry.

"Stop, you are not allowed to enter!"

The Anbu let out a low growl, but after rushing forward two steps, he discovered that the Black Flame wall, which had been hit head-on by the Water Release, was completely undamaged.

His heart was shocked.

A fire that even Water Release cannot extinguish; what a Weird method.

As if he hadn't heard, Sasuke strode into the elevator shaft he had split open, slashed through the slightly rusted elevator floor with one sword strike, and plummeted down at extreme speed.

"Report to Lord Danzou immediately; Sasuke Uchiha has trespassed into Laboratory No. 9 in the Death Forest."

"Damn it, how did he find out?"

The Root members trapped inside the barrier were extremely anxious.

Their expressions were terrifyingly grim.

The things hidden inside this laboratory must absolutely not be discovered by anyone, and even less so be made public; otherwise, even Lord Danzou would not be able to avoid punishment.

As the members guarding the laboratory, they would face even more unimaginably cruel punishments.

He took out a brush from his Ninja Tool Pouch,

wrote a code indicating the highest level of danger in Root secret code, and then formed hand seals and slammed it onto the ground.

Summoning Technique.

A puff of smoke rose, and the scroll with the secret code was quickly taken away by a summoning beast and placed on the desk of the high-ranking advisor Shimura Danzo.

(End of this chapter)